OMAHA, Neb. (AP) — The Environmental Protection Agency cleared the way Friday for a higher blend of ethanol to be sold nationwide for the third summer in a row, citing global conflicts that it says are putting pressure on the world’s fuel supply.
The agency announced an emergency waiver that will exempt gasoline blended with 15% ethanol from an existing summertime ban. Gasoline with 10% ethanol is already sold nationwide, but the higher blend has been prohibited in the summer because of concerns it could worsen smog during warm weather.
As someone from the flyover states, the subsidies and the monstrous amount of lobbying done by the ag industry are exhausting, but are the majority of the reason behind why the information you’re seeing seems sketchy. Take any pro-e85 argument with that in mind.
Also, as a side note, you don’t need to be perfect to have an opinion :) Your disclaimer is about basic research literacy so don’t fear adding to a discussion because someone might engage in bad faith. And yes, I am projecting my own anxiety onto my perception of your statement, lol.
I just tend to hedge my bets with lots of disclaimers for things I’m not totally sure of. I know I’m not an expert on these matters, and I don’t want anyone taking what I say and spreading it has hard facts when I know there’s a real possibility that I may have it completely wrong. Hopefully no one can read my comment and go “well this guy sure seems to know what he’s talking about, I’m going to take his word for it and tell all of my friends,” but maybe it’ll get them to take a second look, see what info is out there and be mindful about where that information is coming from and try to draw their own conclusions.
And really, as far as having an opinion goes, this shouldn’t really be the kind of thing we’re dealing in opinions about. This should just be a matter of hard facts and numbers, but unfortunately due to industries like agriculture and oil sticking their fingers into, those hard facts are usually too hard for most of us to come by, so we’re kind of left with nothing but opinions based on what spotty facts we have.